Wet processing apparatus



March 4, 1969 Filed Aug. 1, 1967 F. PETER WET PROCES S ING APPARATUSSheet of 5 March 4, 1969 Fv PETER 3,430,466

WET PROCESSING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 1, 1967 Sheet 2 March 4, 1969 F.PETER WET PROCESSING APPARATUS Sheet 3 of Filed Aug. 1, 1967 12212822302Fgiiz P33422 6AM f fliioz zzqys E b 6 w 0 w m 9 9 .5 A 6 f 7 8 a MM. m w.i \8 4% r l IV IV W I w -a K 4 8 a w E a m m March 4, 1969 I F. PETER3,430,466

WET PROCESS ING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 1, 1967 Sheet 4 of 5 0 ea 7 v 9orear 1/ f l T rugs:

March 4, 1969 Filed Aug. 1, 1967 F. PETER WET PROCESS ING APPARATUSSheet 5 015 United States Patent 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Anapparatus for subjecting a continuous length of material such as forexample a textile web to a fluid treatment. The apparatus includes atreatment zone defined in part by two spaced opposed walls. Both thematerial to be treated and a high velocity stream of processing fluidare passed between the opposed walls, with either a reed member or aplurality of appropriately positioned control jets being employed toalternately direct the fluid stream first towards one wall and thentowards the opposite wall, thereby imparting both corresponding lateralmovement and a gentle beating action to the material passing through thetreatment zone.

Background of the invention In describing the invention, reference willhereinafter be made to the treatment of web material in the textileindustry. It is to be understood, however, that this reference to aparticular industrial application is for illustrative purposes only andis not to be considered as a limitation upon the scope of the claimsappended hereto.

In the textile industry, continuous lengths of fabric (often in webform) are subjected to various wet finishing processes such as forexample dyeing, bleaching, washing, etc. Experience has indicated thatmany if not all of these Wet finishing processes are aided materially byimparting a certain degree of turbulence to the processing liquidthrough which the Web material is being passed. A number of devices havebeen developed in the past with this objective in mind, and it isbelieved that to some extent these devices have improved the efficiencyof the processes in which they have been employed. The present inventionrepresents a still further and significant improvement in thisparticular field.

Summary of the invention In the present invention, the material to betreated is passed between two spaced opposed walls of a treatment zone,the width of the treatment zone preferably being at least equal to thematerial width. While moving through the zone, the material is exposedto a pressurized stream of processing fluid, also flowing between thewalls. The stream may flow in the same and/or opposite directionrelative to the movement of the material. Control means are provided forcyclically directing the fluid first towards one wall and then towardsthe opposite wall. In one embodiment of the invention to be hereinafterdescribed in greater detail, the control means is comprised basically ofa reed member located between the walls directly in the path of thefluid stream. The reed, which extends across the width of the materialbeing processed is flexed or vibrated by the fluid flowing through thetreatment zone. This reed vibration imparts a gentle beating action tothe material passing through the zone and in addition, alternatelyexposes the material to conditions of vacuum and pressure. Both effectswhen taken in conjunction with the inherent turbulence of the processingfluid .passing between the opposed walls and around the reed, greatlyimprove the etficiency of the wet finishing process. For example, whenwashing a cloth web, this lateral flexing 3,430,466 Patented Mar. 4,1969 and gentle beating action will aid in dislodging partiallydissolved soluble impurities as well as insoluble impurities frombetween the fibers making up the fabric. In addi tion, liquor exchangethrough fibrous material is considerably enhanced as a result of thismechanical fluidinduced lateral flexing. An alternate embodiment of theinvention will also be described wherein laterally directed control jetsare employed in place of a reed to cyclically direct the stream ofprocessing fluid alternately towards each of the opposed walls of thetreatment zone.

In light of the foregoing, it is a general object of the presentinvention to provide an improved and more efficient wet finishingapparatus for processing continuous lengths of material.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a wetfinishing apparatus which subjects the material being treated to agentle beating action.

Another object of the present invention is to cause the material beingprocessed to be continuously laterally flexed.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means forcyclically subjecting the material being processed to alternateconditions of pressure and vacuum.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of the apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 with a portionof the web material broken away;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken through thetreatment chamber along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 4 showing the reed flexed tothe opposite extreme;

FIG. 6 is :a plan view similar to FIG. 1 showing an alternate embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along lines 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view in perspective of the treatment chamber shown in FIGS.6 and 7; and,

FIGS. 9-11 are sectional views on an enlarged scale showing thetreatment chamber illustrated in FIGS. 6-8 at different operationalstages.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1-3 wherein are best shown general featuresof one embodiment of the invention, a generally rectangular tank 10 isshown comprised of side walls 12a and 12b, end walls 14a and 14b and abottom 15. The tank is filled with processing fluid 13 to a levelindicated at 16 in FIGS. 2 and 3. The level of fluid in tank 10 can ofcourse be adjusted by either feeding more fluid in or draining excessfluid out.

A treatment chamber generally indicated by the reference numeral 18 ismounted on support brackets 20 within the tank 10 between side walls 12aand 12b. As can best be seen by further reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, thetreatment chamber 18 is comprised basically of two mating housingsections 22a and 22b held together by any convenient means such as endplates 24 (see FIGS. 1 and 3) and a plurality of retaining boltsindicated typically by the reference numeral 26, which bolts extendthrough upstanding dogs 27 on each section. The two housing sections 22aand 22b cooperate to define an inner cylindrical cavity 28 which extendsalong the entire width of treatment chamber 18. A passageway which willhereinafter be referred to as the treatment zone 30 leads downwardlyfrom cavity 28 to the exterior of the treatment chamber. A portion ofzone 30 is defined in part by the two spaced parallel side walls 31a and31b. The side walls descend vertically to shoulders 29, at which pointthey diverge outwardly to form a gradually diverging area 33 at thelower end of treatment zone 30.

As herein illustrated, two upper rollers 32a and 32b and two lowerrollers 34a and 34b are shown rotatably mounted within cavity 28. Aswill hereinafter be explained in more detail these rollers serve asmeans for guiding material through the treatment chamber.

A reed 40 extends upwardly through the diverging area 33 of treatmentzone 30 preferably above the level of shoulders 29 to a point betweenparallel side walls 31A and 31b. As herein shown, reed 40 is fixed alongits lowermost edge as at 42 to a support member 44, the latter extendingacross tank 10 with its ends attached to side walls 12:: and 1212. Itshould be understood that the reed may if desired be pivotally attachedto the support member 44. Also, the reed might pivot about a knife edgeor alternately about an axis extending transverse to the direction ofmaterial movement.

The material to be processed, herein shown for illustrative purposes asa continuous cloth web 46 is directed into the tank 10 over a firstidler roll 48. The web then travels downwardly beneath the surface ofprocessing liquid 13 and around a second idler roll 49. From this point,the web travels upwardly to treatment chamber 18 where it passes throughtreatment zone 30 and around roller 34a. The material then continuesupwardly and then laterally over both upper rollers 32a and 32b be foreagain passing downwardly past lower roller 34b to again exit from thechamber through treatment zone 30. After leaving the treatment chamber,the material continues downwardly around submerged idler roller 50 andthen upwardly over a fourth idler roll 51. From this point, the materialmay be gripped by driven rolls 52 and carried on to the next processingstep.

Processing fluid is pumped from tank 10 by means of a pump 54, feed pipe56 and lateral branch outlets 56a into the cavity 28 of chamber 18. Fromhere, the liquid flows around and through the web material movingthrough the chamber before passing downwardly in the form of a highvelocity stream through treatment zone 30 and back into the tank 10.

As the processing fluid flows through treatment zone 30, some turbulenceis experienced, particularly in the area adjacent the upper end ofdivergent area 33. This turbulence initially causes the upper end ofreed 40 to begin vibrating laterally between the opposed wall portions31a and 31b. FIG. 4 illustrates the extent to which reed 40 will deflectin one direction (to the left as viewed in the drawings). At this point,the upper end of the reed strikes the upwardly moving web material 46,resulting in the web being pressed momentarily against the lower end ofwall portion 31a. When deflected to this position, the reed alsomomentarily cuts oil the flow of processing fluid to the side 33a ofdivergent area 33, while simultaneously directing the entire flow offluids toward wall 31b and into the opposite side 33b of area 33.Although flow of processing fluid to side 33a is momentarily cut offwhen the reed 40 is flexed to this position, the fluid already in side33a continues to move downwardly due to its own inertia, thus producinga cavitational effect which results in the upwardly moving web materialto the left of reed 40 being momentarily exposed to a condition ofvacuum. At the same time the downwardly moving web material to the rightside 33b of reed 40 is exposed to the full force, turbulence andpressure of the processing fluid exiting from cavity 28.

As the upper end of reed 40 vibrates to the opposite wall 31b oftreatment zone 30, the reverse conditions occur. More particularly asshown in FIG. 5, reed 40 has now deflected t the opposite extreme,resulting in the downwardly traveling web being stricken and pressedmomentarily against the lower portion of wall 31b. With the flow ofprocessing liquid now momentarily out oif on the side 33b of divergingarea 33, the downwardly traveling web in this vicinity is exposed to acondition of vacuum. Simultaneously, the upwardly traveling web at theleft side 33a is exposed to the full force and pressure of theprocessing fluid.

In view of the foregoing, it can be seen that the flow of processingfluid exiting from cavity 28 through treatment zone 30 causes the upperend of reed 40 to vibrate between wall portions 31a and 31b. At oneextreme, the reed strikes the web and presses it momentarily againstwall 310. At the other extreme, the reed strikes and presses the webagainst wall portion 31b. This in effect produces a gentle beatingaction which constantly flexes the web laterally, promotes flow of theprocessing fluid through the web fibers and at the same time aidsmaterially in dislodging impurities embedded between the fibers. Reedvibration also alternately exposes each web portion to conditions ofvacuum and pressure. This further induces fluid penetration through thefibers of the web.

An alternate embodiment of the invention will now be described withfurther references to FIGS. 6-11. Referring specifically to FIGS. 6 and7, a modified treatment chamber 68 is shown supported on horizontallyaligned shelves 69 within a processing tank 66 again filled withprocessing fluid to a level indicated at 70. Chamber 68 is comprisedbasically of two housing sections 72a and 72b (FIGS. 8-11) held inspaced relationship by means of end plates 74a and 74b. The housingsections cooperate to define an inner cavity 76 in communication at itsupper and lower ends respectively with exit and entrance passageways 78and 80. Entrance passageway 80 extends downwardly to a divergingtreatment zone 82, the latter being defined by two outwardly slopingwall portions 84a and =84b. For purposes of discussion, the area 83 atthe upper end of treatment zone 82 will hereinafter be referred to asthe interaction area.

The material to be treated, again illustrated as a continuous web 86,travels over an idler roll 87 and then downwardly and around a secondidler roll 88 submerged in the tank beneath the processing liquid 70.Thereafter, the web travels upwardly toward the treatment chamber 68where it passes through divergent treatment zone 82, entrance passageway80 and cavity 76 before exiting through passageway 78. From here, thematerial continues upwardly over a third idler roller 89 to bethereafter gripped by two driven rolls 90 and carried on to the nextprocessing step.

Processing fluid is pumped from tank 66 through the end plate 74a and74b of treatment chamber 68 and into cavity 76. This is accomplished bymeans of a pump 92 and its associated suction and delivery lines 93a and93b. The processing fluid is prevented from escaping from cavity 76through exit passageway 78 by means of a suitable seal 94. With thisarrangement, a jet stream of the processing fluid is thus forceddownwardly through passageway 80 and treatment zone 82.

Housing section 72b is provided with a series of vertically spaced pairsof control canals 96 and 98. The upper control canals have outlets inwall 84b adjacent interaction area 83 and inlets 97 open to thesurrounding atmosphere. Housing section 72a is further provided withanother series of upper control canals 100 oppositely disposed to theupper control canals 96 in wall section 72b. As herein illustrated,treatment chamber 68 is provided with seven sets of control canals, eachset being comprised of two oppositely disposed upper control canals 96and 100, and one lower control canal 98, the canals in each set allbeing located in a common vertical plane. With regard to each set ofcontrol canals, the upper canal 100 in housing section 72a is connectedto the lower control canal 98 in housing section 72b by means of a tube102 running around the outside of the treatment chamber. The arrangementof tubes 102 ex terior of the treatment chamber is best illustrated byreference to FIG. 8.

As the jet stream of processing liquid emerges from entrance passageway80 and passes through interaction area 83, the following action takesplace: initially, the stream has a tendency to simply pass downwardly ina vertical direction. This downward flow creates a suction action in theupper control canals 96 and 100. In the present preferred embodiment,control canals 98 and 100 have purposely been provided with larger crosssections (exaggerated for illustrative purposes) than canals 96. Thus,this initial suction action, although effective in both canals 96 and100, will result in more air being drawn from the lower end of treatmentzone 82 through canals 98 and the tubes 102 to which they are connected.Consequently more air will initially be delivered to interaction area 83from the left as viewed in the drawings through upper canals 180, Thiscondition is illustrated in FIG. 9 wherein the liquid flow is showndiagrammatically by solid arrows and the air flow through the controlcanals by dotted arrows. The interaction of the various liquid and airstreams takes place in interaction area 83, and because of the greaterlateral force exerted by the larger Volume of air being deliveredthrough upper control canals 100, the jet stream of processing liquid isdeviated initially towards wall 84b (see FIG. 10). As the stream ofprocessing liquid is pushed towards wall 84b, the upwardly moving fabricweb 86 is carried along with it, thus causing the fabric to be gentlyslapped against wall 84b. At this point, any further entry of air fromdivergent treatment zone 82 into control canal 98 is effectively cut offby the flow of processing fluid and/ or the fabric web 86, both beingmomentarily against Wall 84b. Thus, the stream of control air beingdelivered through the upper canals 100 is also cut ofl. At the same timeair continues to be drawn from the surrounding atmosphere through thecontrol canals 96, with the result that the jet stream of processingfluid is now pushed in the opposite direction towards wall 84a (see FIG.11). This in turn results in the web material being correspondinglylaterally shifted and gently slapped against wall 84a.

The condition illustrated in FIG. ll is only momentary, for the flow ofprocessing liquid will immediately create a suction in the upper controlcanal 100, which suction will again result in a flow of air now that thelower control canals 98 are free. Thus, the laterally directed forceexerted by air exiting from control canals 100 Will override theopposite force exerted by air flowing from the smaller canals 96, thenet effect being a force tending to push the jet stream of processingfluid and the fabric web 86 back against wall 84b.

In view of the foregoing, it can be seen that the web material 86passing upwardly through chamber 68 will be subjected to a high velocitycounterflow of treatment fluid. The arrangement of control canals 96, 98and 100 will result in laterally directed air streams being applied tothe stream of processing fluids in a manner causing both the stream andfabric to be alternately pushed first against one wall 84b and thenagainst the opposite wall 84a. This continuous flexing of the web whentaken in conjunction with the gentle beating action resulting from theweb being slapped against the walls 84a and 84b, greatly assistspenetration of the processing liquid into the fibers of the materialbeing processed and thus materially increases process efficiency,

It is my intention to cover all changes and modifications of theembodiments herein chosen for purposes of disclosure which do not departfrom the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for subjecting a continuous length of material to a fluidtreatment, said apparatus comprising: a pair of spaced opposed wallmembers; means for passing a stream of processing fluid between saidwall members; means for moving and guiding the material to be treatedbetween said wall members; and control means for alternately directingsaid fluid stream laterally first towards one of said wall members andthen towards the opposite wall member so as to laterally flex thematerial passing therebetween.

2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said control means iscomprised of a reed member attached along one edge to a fixed support,the opposite edge of said reed member being located between said wallmembers in a position such that the stream of processing fluid willcause said reed member to be laterally flexed between said wall members.

3. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said control means iscomprised of a plurality of canals extending through said wall members,the said canals be ing arranged to direct control streams of airlaterally against said stream of processing fluid in a manner whichcauses the staid stream of processing fluid to be alternately directedfirst towards one of said wall members and then towards the other ofsaid wall members, thus imparting a corresponding lateral movement tothe material passing therebetween.

4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the said material ispassed between said Wall members in at least one direction opposite tothe flow of said processing fluid.

5. The apparatus 'as set forth in claim 1 further characterized by saidwall members having opposed faces which extend in parallel relationshipfor a limited distance prior to diverging outwardly in oppositedirections.

6. Apparatus for subjecting a continuous length of material to a wettreatment, said apparatus comprising: a pair of spaced opposed wallmembers defining a treatment zone therebetween; means for passing astream of processing fluid through said zone; means for moving thematerial to be processed through said zone in at least one directionopposite to that of the said stream of processing fluid; and a reedmember positioned in said zone bet-ween said wall members, the locationof said reed relative to said wall members being such that the flow ofprocessing fluid will cause the reed to vibrate laterally between saidW'all members.

7. Apparatus for subjecting a continuous length of material to a fluidtreatment, said apparatus comprising: a housing defining aninner cavity;a passageway leading from said cavity to the exterior of said housing,said passageway defined in part by a pair of spaced opposed housingwalls; means for pumping processing fluid into said cavity, from whencethe fluid escapes through said passageway in the form of a high velocityjet stream; means for guiding the material to be processed into and outof said cavity through said passageway; and control means for cyclicallydirecting the escaping jet stream of processing fluid laterally firstagainst one housing wall and then against the other opposed wall so asto impart corresponding lateral movement to the material beingprocessed.

8. The apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein said control means iscomprised of a reed member extending into said passageway from a fixedsupport exterior of said housing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,152,464 10/1964 Faraguna68--184 FOREIGN PATENTS 677,561 1/1964 Canada.

WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 68-3, 62

